Implantable or insertable medical devices such as stents made of metallic, polymeric or a composite of metallic and polymeric materials frequently occlude due to microbial colonization and adhesion. This problem is particularly prevalent with medical devices that are adapted to remain implanted for a relatively long-term, i.e., from about 30 days to about 12 months or longer. Microbes such as bacteria often colonize on and around the medical device and, upon attaching to surfaces of the device, proliferate and form aggregates within a complex matrix consisting of extracellular polymeric substances, typically polysaccharides. The mass of attached microorganisms and the associated extracellular polymeric substances is commonly referred to as a biofilm or slime. Antimicrobial agents have difficulty penetrating biofilms and killing and/or inhibiting the proliferation of the microorganisms within the biofilm. The colonization of the microbes on and around the device and the synthesis of the biofilm barrier eventually result in encrustation, occlusion and failure of the device.
Previous approaches to minimize this problem have included the use of low surface energy materials such as Teflon® in implantable medical devices and the use of surface coatings on such medical devices. Surface coatings have typically comprised single antimicrobials or 1-2 antibiotics.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,853,745 discloses an implantable medical device having a durable protective coating layer over an antimicrobial coating layer. The coating layers are formed by applying an antimicrobial coating layer to at least a portion of the surface of the medical device, applying a durable coating over the antimicrobial coating layer, and applying a resilient coating layer over the durable coating layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,283 discloses a non-metallic antimicrobial impregnated implantable medical device where the antimicrobial composition is applied to the device under conditions where the antimicrobial composition permeates the material of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,640 discloses polymeric medical devices that have been impregnated and/or coated with chlorhexidine and triclosan by dipping or soaking the medical device in a solution of a hydrophobic or hydrophilic polymer containing chlorhexidine and triclosan.
Published International Application No. WO 99/47595 discloses a plastics material that can be used in certain medical applications comprising an acrylic polymer containing 5-50% of a rubbery copolymer and a biocidal compound. The patent also discloses adding antimicrobial agent to the polymer melt by means of a liquid injection system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,679,399 discloses membranes that may include one or more permeable or semipermeable layers containing substances such as biocides. The layers allow the transmission of environmental fluids inwardly and the outward dispersion of the biocides. These membranes may also include a sealing or coating to entrap agents such as biocides therein.
Of the previous approaches, coatings have met with the greatest success because of their proximity to the bacterial environment and hence their active approach to preventing bacterial colonization and attachment. However, this approach has proven inadequate because of the potential for bacterial resistance to a single narrow spectrum active agent, because the amount of active agent that can be incorporated into such coatings is typically low, and/or because externally coated tubular devices release active agents to the environment external to the device but not intraluminally.
In an effort to alleviate the foregoing and other disadvantages of the prior art, Applicants have developed an implantable or insertable medical device suitable for long-term implantation and a method for manufacturing such a device, wherein the device provides resistance to microbial growth on and around the device and/or biofilm formation on the device. The device of the present invention, therefore, overcomes the disadvantages associated with the use of coatings as discussed above, and provides a reduced risk of biofilm fouling that eventually results in encrustation, occlusion and failure of the device.